I must beat Stoner: Rossi

AAP

Valentino Rossi has pinpointed Australian motorcycle master Casey Stoner as the man to beat in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

Rossi is ignoring Stoner's embarrassing first lap exit from the Malaysian GP last Sunday as the Italian bids to end his own long losing streak at the Island.

And the seven-time world champion said he is back to 100 per cent mentally after the setback of a broken right leg forced him to miss four mid-season races.

Advertisement: Story continues below Rossi has not won the Australian GP since 2005 although he has been a regular visitor to the podium, including a close second to Stoner last year.

Stoner is targeting a fourth consecutive win in his final Island race for Ducati, following on from Rossi's previous dominance at the track, where he won between 2001-2005.

"The Malaysia race was a bad day for Casey but I'm sure he is the man to beat at Phillip Island," Rossi said.
"Last time I won was in 2005 so I will try but Casey and Ducati are very, very fast at the Island so I need to be at 100 per cent to try and beat him.

"And I also cannot forget (newly crowned world champion) Jorge Lorenzo because for this race he does not have the pressure of the championship.

"And Lorenzo has extra motivation because he wants to demonstrate that now he is world champion with no pressure he can win.

"And I love Phillip Island, I think I can make a good result there."

After an injury-plagued season Rossi claims his mental approach to racing is now back despite a nagging shoulder tendon injury.

He won his first race since suffering a broken leg in June with a spellbinding performance in last Sunday's Malaysian GP.

It has taken three months for him to set himself physically and mentally to win again but in Sepang he won with a brilliant display, carving through his rivals from 11th place on the first lap.

"This was one of my best ever races, a Valentino Rossi-style win," Rossi said of Sepang.

"My confidence came back and winning from 11th was something great.

"When I went into turn three on lap one I was crying, I said f***, I saw 10 bikes ahead, I was desperate.
"But then I saw Stoner crash and I had been scared about Stoner for the race win in Sepang.

"Then I knew that I couldn't lose time in the traffic. The difficult part started when I took the lead and felt my power go down. I lost some adrenaline.

"But I said okay, I haven't come from 11th to be second so I found some energy to win over the final laps."
Rossi paid tribute to a late set-up change from his Adelaide crew chief Jerry Burgess that transformed his bike for the Sepang race.

"After qualifying Jerry and I looked deeply into the data to understand the grip problem and the modification he made worked," Rossi said.

Rossi and Burgess will both leave Yamaha at the end of this season to join Ducati next year in a bid to win a record eighth world championship together.


Korean Grand Prix ready to Go

It has been the on-off saga of the Formula 1 season – will the track for South Korea’s first ever Grand Prix be ready in time for starters orders on October 24?Indications last night appeared to confirm F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone’s confident prediction on Saturday that the country's brand new circuit would get the go-ahead. The long-delayed inspection of the Yeognam site by world motorsport's governing body started yesterday – nearly three weeks late - with officials upbeat after the initial checks. Doubt has engulfed the viability of the Korean GP track in recent weeks after it emerged builders were running months behind schedule, with widespread claims made that the track was unfit to host a leg of the prestigious competition. Work on the surface was completed just a couple of days before FIA technical director Charlie Whiting’s arrival at the Yeongam circuit, located in the country’s rural southwest corner, about 250 miles from capital Seoul. It would be a tremendous economic blow if the track were to fail the inspection since both this year's event and the 2011 race would be binned. But representatives from the Korea Auto Valley Operation, the organization in charge of the site, said initial feedback from Whiting was positive and they were confident it would be given the green light. Work started on the counter-clockwise track in 2007 and should have been completed in July. The builders blamed the delays on unusually high rainfall and the fact the area on which the circuit is being built is former wetland. The troubles surrounding the site were compounded less than two weeks ago when a crane crashed into the main grandstand, though the organizers said there had been no major damage. Question marks have also been raised over the popularity of F1 in Korea and the wisdom of hosting the race so far from the beating heart of the country, where more than half South Korea’s 48 million population lives. The inspection is expected to continue into today, but with Korean media outlets suggesting there are unlikely to be any further problems - in tune with Ecclestone's weekend remarks - the momentum seems to suggest disaster has been averted. Speaking to a London tabloid, Ecclestone claimed the Koreans were overcoming the problems at the site. He said: “I will be there, the world will be watching, and we will have a great race. I've seen photographs and the top layer of the track has been laid. They will pass the inspection.”


Hunter Road crash claims one adult, injures four children

Four children, ages 3 to 16, were injured and their uncle killed after his car crashed head-on into a sport-utility vehicle towing a camper Monday on Hunter Road west of Ooltewah.

Victor Carr, 30, of Ooltewah, who was driving a 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix, died, police said. The driver of the 2002 Ford Explorer, 57-year-old Cleveland resident Charles Shavis Jr., sustained minor injuries.

An 8-year-old was airlifted from the scene in critical condition while two other children were transported by ambulance, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Janice Atkinson said. The fourth child, the 16-year-old, was transported for treatment by a private vehicle, she said.

All were taken to T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital.

The collision happened about 12:30 p.m. Monday in the 5400 block of Hunter Road, police said.
Preliminary evidence shows that the Pontiac, which was traveling westbound, crossed the center line and hit the Ford as it was traveling eastbound, Atkinson said. The overall investigation, however, is ongoing, she said.

It isn’t yet known if the people involved were wearing seat belts or if speeding was involved, police said.
The accident occurred about a half mile from the site of a proposed apartment complex that stirred controversy earlier this year. Residents and others, including Bobby Scott, a member of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, did not support the complex proposal. They cited heavy traffic, a lack of shoulders and curves in some parts of Hunter Road.

“The odds are, you’re going to have some problems if you travel through there,” Scott said.

But, he added, even if efforts and funding were made available to improve Hunter Road, accidents would still occur.

“You can’t take the human element out of it,” he said. “Now you can help — sure it helps to have a better road and a wider road. But we’re not going to get it to where we’re not going to have accidents.”